8 Common Difficulties for Foreigners on Their First Trip to Korea

8 Things Foreigners Find Most Difficult in Korea
1) The tricky “identity verification” system (phone verification, i-PIN, Korean phone number required)

• Most Korean online services require mobile phone identity verification
• Verification often fails due to errors with the Alien Registration Number or the spacing of English names.
• Using delivery apps, taxi apps, online shopping malls, and public services becomes difficult
  → The biggest barrier to Korean digital services. At Incheon Airport, once you arrive in Korea, go to the “Foreigner Information Center” inside the airport
  and be sure to set up Wi-Fi and top up a transportation card. The Korean mobile carrier booths at the airport (SK · KT · LG U+) will also help you activate a number and install an eSIM.

Once that is done, you can use taxi apps and delivery apps.

2) Language barrier + lack of English support at specialized institutions

• English communication is difficult at government offices, banks, hospitals, pharmacies, and so on
• Medical explanations are short and fast, making them hard to understand. Using an AI interpreter alongside makes it much easier.
• English spellings of road names and signs differ from the actual pronunciation, causing confusion

→ Not being able to communicate is the biggest source of stress

3) High entry barriers in Korean apps (reservations, payments, Korean card required)

• Essential apps for delivery, taxi calling, train ticket booking, and more
  require a Korean credit card + a Korean phone number
• Many cases of foreign card payments failing
  → The most common problem for short-term travelers and international students
  Activating a number at a carrier booth (SK · KT · LG U+) at the airport is the best option.

They won’t teach you how to use the apps, but they set up the conditions you need to be able to use them.

4) Complicated recycling and garbage disposal rules

• Buying designated volume-based garbage bags; people never carelessly throw trash on the street. Of course, if you look, you can still find some litter.
• Separating food waste
• Detailed rules such as removing labels from PET bottles
• Procedures for reporting large waste items

→ Not knowing the rules can lead to fines or conflicts with neighbors

5) Adapting to Korean lifestyle culture (ondol floor heating, taking off shoes, floor-seating restaurants)

• The culture of taking off shoes indoors feels unfamiliar
• Sitting on the floor at low tables for a long time is hard
• Ondol (underfloor) heating is unfamiliar, so adjusting the temperature is difficult

→ Differences in lifestyle cause inconvenience

6) Mixed walking and traffic rules (keep right, fast movement, transfer layouts)

• People are supposed to keep right, but in practice it is mixed and collisions are frequent
• Bus doors close very quickly
• Subway transfer routes are complicated
  → Korea’s “fast-paced movement culture” feels unfamiliar

For finding your way, I recommend the Naver Map app rather than Google Maps. It shows in detail how many minutes until nearby buses arrive.

7) The “ppalli-ppalli” (hurry-hurry) culture and unspoken rules

• The speed of getting on and off public transportation
• Pressing a bell to order at restaurants
• Standing in one line on escalators
• Quiet subway culture

→ Rules that are obvious to Koreans can be baffling to foreigners

8) Difficulty choosing food (spicy food, lack of vegan and halal options)

• Korean food is generally very spicy
• Lots of garlic, gochujang (red chili paste), and gochugaru (chili flakes)
• Vegan and halal restaurants are scarce outside major tourist areas
  → Foreigners with dietary restrictions have a narrow range of meal choices. The difficulties foreigners face in Korea
  can be summed up as digital barriers + language barriers + lifestyle differences + system complexity.

However, Korea is so safe and free that a woman can walk around alone at 2 a.m.,
a unique strength of Korea that you won’t find anywhere else in the world.
Also, there are many YouTube videos where foreigners experimentally leave a laptop in a café, walk away from their seat,
and test whether it gets stolen. That is how truly safe Korea is.
In the next posts, I will go into the details of each item.